General Motors Co. planned to invest $1 billion into its Warren Technical Center.

General Motors Co. is postponing renovations to its famed design studios and halting a project to update its global propulsion headquarters in metro Detroit an effort to save money.

The plans for the projects in Pontiac and Warren, which were expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, were detailed in a long letter sent Wednesday to employees by GM CEO Mary Barra, making the case that the Detroit-based automaker needs to curtail costs to protect itself against an unpredictable future. A copy of the letter was obtained by Automotive News.

The two projects Barra cited include $180 million for a 360,000-square-foot expansion to its design studios and a new parking structure. Both were supposed to be the "final stage" of a $1 billion transformation of GM's tech center campus in Warren.

Renovations at the propulsion center in Pontiac were part of a wider initiative by the automaker to update and transform its older facilities into open office spaces.

It's unclear how much of the planned renovations were completed. A GM spokesman said those details weren't immediately available.

The letter also detailed plans to offer voluntary buyouts to about 18,000 salaried employees in North America and "most" global executives who have 12 years or more experience, which the automaker confirmed Wednesday.

In the letter, Barra details internal and external factors such as trade and global economic conditions that the company cannot control but must be prepared to address.

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General Motors Co.

"Today, our structural costs are not aligned with the market realities nor the transformational priorities ahead," she said. "We must take significant actions now to address this while our company and the economy are strong."

Scrapping investment in the two projects are examples of ways the company aims to reduce structural costs and increase free cash flow. Barra described free cash flow as being pivotal to the company in the event of a downturn, so that it can continue investments in emerging, yet costly, future technologies such as autonomous and electrified vehicles.

Without a strong cash position, she said, the company "cannot be the agile, innovative industry leader" it needs to be to achieve its longer-term objectives. GM expects to have roughly $4 billion in adjusted automotive free cash flow to end the year, up from a loss of $310 million at the end of the third quarter, which Barra cited in her letter.

"To achieve what this company is truly capable of — and to win — we need to be even more agile and faster to market," she said. "We need to get ahead of headwinds, rather than let them happen to us."

The letter went out to employees soon after GM reported third-quarter earnings that significantly beat Wall Street expectations, including $2.5 billion in net income.

In the context of those results, Barra wrote, it may be hard for some to understand the need for cuts, but "profitability is only part of what is required for our transformation."

She said that despite solid profits, skepticism of the company remains, noting that GM shares were recently trading below their 2010 initial public offering price of $33 a share.

Barra encouraged all eligible employees to "seriously consider" the severance program, while asking everyone to "stay focused on improving the financial performance of the company."